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SKIMMING AUTOMATICALY

Dave_4
Dave_4 Member Posts: 1,405
in THE MAIN WALL
BY THIS TIME NEXT WEEK I HOPE TO HAVE SOLVED MY "MYSTERIOUS MIGRATION OF WATER". THE RETURNS ON MY ONE PIPE STEAM SYSTEM DESCEND TOWARDS THE BOILER IN A SERIES OF LONG HORIZONTAL STEPS WHICH BEING SLIGHTLY ABOVE THE WATERLINE OF MY PEERLESS 211-A WOULD HOLD ALL THE WATER AS THE RETURNS ROSE DURING STEAMING. THE CHECK VALVE WE INSTALLED PREVENTS THE WATER FROM BACKING OUT FROM STEAM PRESSURE BUT FORCES US TO RUN WITH A HIGHER WATERLINE THAN IS DESIRABLE.NEXT STEP WILL BE TO BRING ALL RETURNS STRAIGHT DOWN TO A NEW WET RETURN AT FLOOR LEVEL WITH NO CHECK VALVE INSTALLED--HOPEFULLY A WATERLINE UNDER CONTROL!!
AFTER ALL THESE PIPE CHANGES I WILL HAVE TO DO SOME MORE SKIMMING AND THAT IS MY NEW QUESTION--WHY NOT HAVE SOME SORT OF AUTOMATIC SKIMMING DEVICE LIKE A SEWER GREASE TRAP?
ANY THOUGHTS ??
NICHOLAS

Comments

  • Mark Eatherton
    Mark Eatherton Member Posts: 5,858
    AUTOMATIC skimming control...

    Nick, Welcome to the wall. You might notice that no one else around here is using all capital letters, because that is considered yelling. And it's hard on an old mans eyes. No offense meant. Just asking you to find your cap locks key.

    As for an automatic skimming tool, the direct answer is no, there are none available... yet.

    What would be required would be a reverse acting thermostat (cooling) connected to a proportional normally closed valve. The valve would be connected to the make up water. Set it (cooling stat with sensor immersed in boiler skimming outlet water) for 180 degrees. As the water comes out hotter than 180 degrees, the cold water valve opens to move water through the boiler to cool it down to 180 or what ever you are looking for.

    If you could find a controller and proportional valve with a 0 to 10 volt DC system, you'll have a system.

    Call it the Wilsey Spillsey valve after Steamhead, the most exhuberant, passionate, professional prolific steam person I know.

    Run with it, just remember me in your will:-)

    ME

    There was an error rendering this rich post.

  • Dave_4
    Dave_4 Member Posts: 1,405


  • Dave_4
    Dave_4 Member Posts: 1,405
    SKIMMING AUTOMATICALLY

    sorry about the shouting. i am a "hunt and peck" typist and look at the keyboard while composing and then at the screen.by the time i saw it was all caps i didn't have time to retype it all!!
    re: skimming--if there were a port at waterline level on my peerless 211-a i could run a line out to some sort of settling tank flushable from the top to remove the oil with which my new pipes are well coated from the threading machine.
    i suppose i could run some hot water through them before opening the valve for the first time between the boiler and the return.peerless recommended adding arm and hammer washing soda to the boiler for the first skimming then flushing it out so maybe that would give the pipes their first cleanning-- i will have another question on a different subject soon and i am so glad this site is here thank you all so very much !! nicholas
  • Dave_4
    Dave_4 Member Posts: 1,405
    UNNECESSARY COMPLICATION

    i don't know how the experts feel about legislation designed to force the sale of so-called safety devices-mainly for the benefit of the manufacturers,but i have a beef about my backflow preventer--costs $500.00 and then has to be checked {$$}each year.
    my own solution before was the most cost effective one: a spring-loaded shower valve which of course was always off until you pull the chain [this prevented me from forgetting to close the manual fill valve which i did once filling the returns to the 2nd floor !]
    it seems more likely that one would win the powerball lottery than have ones potable water intermingled with the old steam boiler water.
    i believe that the alternative would be to not have a permanent make up water fill connection and just use a hose to som convenient connection, and that brings me to my question for the panel of learned experts--
    should i fill it with water from the hot side or cold side?perhaps the hot side has had most of the minerals and oxygen left in the heater.--nicholas
  • Mark Eatherton
    Mark Eatherton Member Posts: 5,858
    We're ALL hunt'n peckers.....

    I have to go back and correct all my mistakes after I've finished typing...

    We don't make a solid connection to our residential heating systems.

    Type the word PIG into this web sites search engine and you will find an alternative to constant connected make up.

    As for the code, if there is a one in a million chance that it could occur, they want it protected.

    Welcome to The Wall. A national treasure...

    Learn, teach and pay it forward!

    ME

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  • Dave_4
    Dave_4 Member Posts: 1,405
    PIG?

    i would like to know more about any alternative to the antibackflow but when i search for pig on this site i get 200,973 pages in .0005 seconds about---pigs!!any advice??-nbc
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 0
    Singular, not plural...

    Copy and paste this link into your browser and follow it to the post regarding PIG, which stands for Pressure Induced Glycol.

    http://forums.invision.net/Thread.cfm?CFApp=2&&Message_ID=282336&_#Message282336

    ME
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